France, Russia Affirm Mars Interest to NASA
AviationNow.com

France has reaffirmed its intent to pursue strong new Mars mission cooperation with NASA, while Russia is also seeking new Mars collaboration with the U.S. The French affirmation means that a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the collaboration–which has been awaiting completion at the U.S. State Dept.–will now proceed, said Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator for space science. French national space agency Director General Gerard Brachet and CNES President Alain Bensoussan met in Washington late last month to discuss the Mars initiative and other cooperation with Weiler and NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe.